Today my life went from crazy to CRAZY ENOUGH TO BE WRITTEN IN CAPS. More on that another time. The reason I mention it is because I will not be able to write more than one post per week on this blog for the next couple of months. This makes me sad. I have been writing two or more posts per week for at least a year. I hope to get back to that rate by December, just in time to make a couple truckloads of Christmas cookies!

What a great transition! I didn't even plan this one. While we're on the topic of cookies..

My friend Maren passed this recipe along to me from mydailymoment.com. I am always up for a healthy snack, especially one that is referred to as a cookie (i.e., that will sound enticing to my children). I have made these a few times and my boys LOVE THEM. Elijah asks to eat these for dessert. And breakfast. And lunch. You get the point. They are totally and completely healthy and delicious. It almost seems good to be true! But it's not!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine:

3 cups bran flakes, crushed (that is, 3 cups pre-crushed and just less than 2 cups crushed; on my last batch I discovered I only had 2 cups pre-crushed and that worked fine, too!)

2 cups oatmeal

2 tablespoons wheat germ

2 tablespoons cinnamon

Mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine:

1/2 cup yogurt (I have been using vanilla yogurt, but feel free to use plain or another flavor)

1 cup applesauce (I have used unsweetened, cinnamon and mango-peach flavored; all were delicious!)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup honey

1 large egg

1/2 cup skim milk

Mix well.

Add:

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

Mix well.

Gradually add the cereal-oatmeal mixture and stir after each addition.

Add:

3/4 cup raisins

Stir in the raisins.

Roll heaping tablespoons into balls with your hands and place them onto the prepared baking sheets. Lightly flatten the top of each cookie with your fingers.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes.

All of my batches so far have made exactly 36 cookies and none of my batches have lasted for more than 48 hours.

I added a mashed banana to one batch and it was delicious! I would imagine that a shredded carrot would be great, too, or some berries or a mashed peach.

This is officially my new favorite recipe.

Healthy Breakfast Cookies

No trickery needed with these babies. They are just as delicious as dessert cookies and kids love them! (adapted from: mydailymoment.com)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine bran flakes, oatmeal, wheat germ and cinnamon. Mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine yogurt, applesauce, vanilla, honey, egg and milk. Mix well. Add baking soda and baking powder and mix well. Gradually add the cereal-oatmeal mixture to the yogurt mixture and stir after each addition. Fold in the raisins.

Roll heaping tablespoons into balls with your hands and place on prepared baking sheet. Lightly press down on the ball to flatten it. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes.